Jim Davidson

Jim Davidson is a sovereign individual, entrepreneur, and author. He is currently involved in several development stage companies and two operating companies. In addition to The Indomitus Report, Jim is writing a book on new countries and another on privacy.

As a sovereign individual, Jim knows that it is resolution and determination which separate sovereign from servant. In the words of Étienne de la Boétie, "Resolve to serve no more, and you are at once freed. I do not ask that you place hands upon the tyrant to topple him over, but simply that you support him no longer; then you will behold him, like a great Colossus whose pedestal has been pulled away, fall of his own weight and break into pieces."

As an entrepreneur, Jim has been involved in dozens of start-up ventures in industries ranging from banking, aerospace, real estate, software, and e-commerce to space travel, data havens, and longevity research. He has worked in companies founded by others and in companies of his own creation. Entrepreneurs know that many companies end in failure. It is the fear of failure which prevents a great many people from ever being entrepreneurs or sovereign.

As an author, Jim has written essays, articles, poetry, fiction, and is developing a book on the new country trend. Words about him have appeared in Time magazine, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and other major publications. Words by him have appeared in The Libertarian Enterprise, Final Frontier magazine, Space News, The Houston Post, The Houston Chronicle, and other publications. An earlier book, The Atlantis Papers was published in 1994 and is available from After Dark Publications.

Individual Sovereignty

There are many persons named "Jim Davidson." One of these is author James Dale Davidson who co-wrote such stunning masterpieces as The Sovereign Individual, The Great Reckoning, and Blood in the Streets with author William Lord Rees-Mogg. James Dale Davidson was also affiliated for many years with the National Taxpayers Union. He is not our man. His work on individual sovereignty is first rate, and the author of The Indomitus Report has read many of his books with relish.

Our Jim Davidson is James Eric Davidson. His interest in individual sovereignty stems from several events, including two notable arrests. "Nothing clarifies the mind about one's relationship with the state quite like being arrested," he says. Jim was arrested in February 1991 on the false and malicious charge of felony gambling promotion of a lottery. That charge was dropped in May 1991 with an agreed injunction which made it clear that he was in fact operating a lawful sweepstakes business. Jim was arrested again in January 2004. During his arrest he was handcuffed by a police officer, then kicked in the face and ribs, suffering ten rib fractures, damage to his left lung, adrenal gland, and kidney. He was convicted of misdemeanor evading arrest and is organizing a civil suit.

Jim co-founded in 2000 the company Gold Barter Holdings which developed several digital money ventures. Among these are GoldBarter.com, Cambist.net, and MerchantGold.com. GoldBarter.com is an auction site which allows individuals to exchange property for gold. Cambist.net is an exchange service which allows individuals to buy gold with national currencies or exchange one type of gold currency for another. MerchantGold.com is a bridge between the status quo banking system and the new online gold systems. In addition to the ventures of Gold Barter Holdings, Jim has had an e-gold account since 1998 and currently operates an exchange service called EzEz.com.

In addition to these work-related qualifications, Jim has studied the history of free market money, including the writings of such stalwarts as Friedrich von Hayek, Ludwig von Mises, Murray Rothbard, Nicolas Oresme, Antony Sutton, and EC Harwood. He's studied the history of paper money from the mulberry bark paper of Genghis Khan to the present day. Naturally, with exposure to the history of fiat money inflation he is concerned about the disastrous consequences that await a world economy built like a house of paper.

Space Frontier
In December 1968, Jim watched a grainy black and white television picture of astronauts orbiting the Moon. Naturally this event had a dramatic effect on his interests. In 1977, Jim joined the L5 Society, a group dedicated to building human colonies in space. During his high school, college, and graduate school career he formed several chapters of L5, of the National Space Society, and of Students for the Exploration and Development of Space, and was briefly a member of the Planetary Society. His interest in space was attended by an interest in science fiction, both reading and writing.

Jim studied astronomy, astrophysics, planetary dynamics, atmospheric science, and geology while in high school and college. He also worked in the space industry from 1986 to 1991. Since then he has been a consultant for over a dozen space ventures. He knows many of the entrepreneurs who have made great strides in space achievement.

Launch Technology
The focus of Jim's work in the space industry was launch technology. Getting from Earth into orbit is the first step for most space ventures. As Robert Heinlein noted, "Once you're in low Earth orbit, you're halfway to anywhere in the Solar System." In terms of energy or change in velocity, he was exactly correct.

In 1986, Jim joined Space Services Incorporated of America. SSIA had previously organized a Percheron launch attempt in 1981 which failed during a pre-launch test, and a Conestoga launch in 1982 which was completely successful. Jim joined the company on a Summer internship program with Rice University's business school. During his first few months, he conducted a market survey of the university community, identifying many potential payloads for the company. Continuing as a part-time employee during the second year of business school, Jim helped write proposals, several of which involved university projects. One of these, the Starfire proposal to the University of Alabama in Huntsville led to a contract for a suborbital flight in March 1989, followed by six more similar flights. Jim was involved as logistics manager for three of these flights.

New Country Developments
At the beginning of the 20th Century there were about 110 countries in the world. Today there are 198 countries recognized by the United Nations, thirty or so nations with some status such as observer, and hundreds more with no official UN status. In North America alone there are six hundred native tribes with some degree of sovereignty. In Africa, over two thousand ethnic populations claim territory.

In their 1993 book War and Anti-War, authors Alvin and Heidi Toffler report that a CIA analyst of their acquaintance expressed concern that during the 21st Century there could be five thousand new countries. The intelligence gathering and diplomatic issues arising from this trend are staggering. The economic opportunities are amazing.

What is behind this trend? Who is starting new countries and why? How does an investor capitalize on these opportunities? These questions are answered every week in The Indomitus Report.

Jim's particular expertise includes working with the New Country Foundation in 1995 and subsequently, working with the Awdal Roads Company on free port projects in Africa, and working on several new country endeavors, including the Republic of Texas.

Longevity
Living a long, healthy life has been the purpose of many people for thousands of years. Achilles was given the choice between a long life and a glorious one. He chose glory. Many others would have chosen longevity. Still others take both.

Lifespans on Earth have been documented to be on the order of 120 years. Several population groups have achieved comparable elderly individuals. Of course, not being born into any of these populations means Jim is having to learn how to live longer on his own.

His interest in longevity started with Heinlein's masterpiece, The Door into Summer. Other reading included Dr. Michael Fossel, Reversing Human Aging, 1995. Visits to the cryonics facilities of Alcor in California (1986) and Arizona (1995) also stimulated an interest in longevity. On a recent trip (May 2004) to Las Vegas, Jim had the opportunity to meet longevity and nutrition researchers Durk Pearson and Sandy Shaw, as well as Will Block. During the course of his travels, Jim has also met longevity enthusiasts Saul Kent, Kitty Antonik, Paul Wakfer, Tom Wells, Bill Faloon, and others.

Jim has studied the effects of vitamin supplements, caloric restriction, and resveratrol supplementation, as well as the research on cryo-preservation of human tissue.

Education
In May 1987, Jim received his MBA in marketing from the Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Administration of Rice University in Houston, Texas. His second year studies focused on market research and entrepreneurship, with a heavy dose of statistical analysis and operations research including linear programming. A strong grounding in finance, financial accounting, cost accounting, business and governmental processes, and organizational behavior was provided in the first year. While there, Jim helped organize Rice University Students for the Exploration and Development of Space. His Summer internship was at Space Services Incorporated of America, where he also performed term time work prior to graduation. He was hired on full time after receiving his master's degree.

Prior to being admitted to graduate studies at Rice, Jim completed his Bachelor of Arts degree in history at Columbia College, Columbia University, New York, New York. He attended Columbia as a John Jay Scholar and National Merit Scholar. His studies included astronomy, astrophysics, geology, atmospheric science, calculus, Lagrangian mechanics, partial differential equations, physics, French, military history, the history of psychology, city planning, plus the Core Curriculum of studies in contemporary civilization, literature, music, and art. During his time there he organized Columbia University L5 and was a member of the New York L5 Society. His term time and Summer employment was with First National Processing, the lockbox unit of First Chicago where he created and supervised the weekend shift.

In order to reach the Ivy League, Jim had an outstanding high school education at Lawrence High School (LHS) in Lawrence, Kansas. Among the honors he earned at LHS were valedictory speaker, Kansas Scholar, the degree of Distinction from the National Forensic League, president of the debate team, Certificat d'honneur from the Concours National de Français, and various trophies for winning debate tournaments. During his time there, he participated in the physics club and organized LHS L5.

One of the most important facets of Jim's education is the school of hard knocks. In 1991, he was falsely accused of felony gambling promotion of a lottery, a charge subsequently dropped by the state after the government revealed its true agenda - preventing Americans from flying to the Soviet space station at any cost. In 1993, he was falsely accused of unlawful carry handgun, a misdemeanor charge subsequently dismissed. In 2004, he was falsely accused of felony evading arrest with a motor vehicle, a charge subsequently replaced by the judge with misdemeanor evading arrest - ironically without ever being charged with any crime for which he would allegedly have been arrested.

So, Jim's spent some time in jail, including the infamous "old county" jail in Harris County, Texas which was at the time under investigation by the federal courts for functioning as cruel and unusual punishment in and of itself. Old county had overflowing toilets in most of the holding cells which were also over crowded, sometimes hosting upwards of a hundred inmates in rooms built to house thirty. Meals were provided in brown paper sacks, typically slid under the cell doors into the raw sewage on the floors, bypassing the prisoners and converting directly from food to sewage.

On the occasion of his 2004 arrest, Jim was brutally assaulted by the arresting officer, kicked in the face and ribs repeatedly while handcuffed, resulting in eleven broken bones. These events transpired while over a dozen other police watched.

Associations
Houston Space Society, Inc., 1987 to present, held various officer positions including treasurer and president.

Associate member of International Society for Individual Liberty since 2000.